Google Mars is a spin-off of Google Earth that shows interactive maps of the Red Planet's surface.

The feature was released in 2009 as part of the free downloadable Google Earth app, but until now, most of the satellite images were low-resolution.

The program received a major update this week, thanks to high-definition images beamed back from the Context Camera on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Now, Earth-bound folks can hone down to 20 feet per pixel on the planet's surface.

That's a crisper picture than most areas of our planet covered by Google Earth, which typically have a resolution of 50 feet per pixel, Wired's Adam Mann points out.

Why no "Google Moon" (or is there one)? Isn't anyone interested enough in the moon any more? Or is somebody afraid that if we see the details of the other side of the moon too clearly, that we just might spot some secret Government base that has been there for decades, and that we just might figure out that Government has secretly had space travel for as long as 100 years or more, and that there aren't any aliens, but that it is all Government operations?

Comment by Ed Price

Entered on: 11/14/2012 2:56:13 PM

Less air on Mars, containing virtually NO water vapor, might mean a clearer view.

Is Google afraid of a lawsuit by Government or individuals if they show things too clearly on Earth? So they don't do it at all rather than only restricting sensitive areas?